Burnt Toast
by john-wtfson
Summary: Erik burnt his toast a lot. Charles found it endearing. Erik found it frustrating.


**AN: Also posted on ao3 by author johnwtfson (me) and on wattpad by author BucketHats (also me)**

Mornings were, to put it mildly, chaos.

"Professor! Sean shattered another glass!"

"Shut up Alex, I wouldn't have had to scream if you hadn't have put a FUCKING FAKE SPIDER ON MY CHAIR!"

"Language!" Charles exclaimed, as his coffee rocked up and down in his mug from all the commotion.

"How was I supposed to know that you'd freak out?" Alex said in defence.

"It's a SPIDER. DID YOU KNOW THAT SPIDERS ARE SCARY?"

Charles closed his eyes, grateful that they had stopped swearing at the very least.

Two minutes later and the smoke alarm went off, causing a frazzled Erik to run down and punch it, before recovering what was left of his toast.

Erik was not very good at using the toaster. Charles found this endearing. Erik found it annoying.

"We're out of jam," Raven sighed, staring into an empty glass jar that was slightly stained red.

"So soon? We went shopping a week ago," Charles said.

"Yeah, but SOMEBODY ate it all," she said, glaring at Sean, who shrugged and kept eating his jam-covered toast.

"I'm not going shopping again," Hank muttered.

Charles sighed. "I'll go this afternoon. Anyone want to join me?"

Silence washed over them all, and Charles rolled his eyes.

"I will," Erik said, slinking out of his corner before jumping as his toast popped out, blackened and burnt.

Out of frustration, he subconsciously squeezed the metal toaster to a ball, along with his toast.

"Get a new toaster, while you're at it," Alex snorted. "Maybe a plastic one that has one setting - 'not burnt'."

Charles laughed. Erik didn't.

Charles and Erik made it to the local supermarket without any problems, the unwilling teenagers in tow.

"Now, I'm going to split you all up in different pairs and assign you all items to put in your trolleys. So, Raven and Hank, you'll go get cereal, bread, jam, and any other breakfast item you can think of," Charles said, nodding at Raven and Hank. "Alex and Sean, you can fetch all the juice, milk, sodas, and any other beverages. Erik and I will worry about everything else. Are we all clear?"

They all nodded and dispersed.

Charles sighed and turned to Erik. "Shall we start with the fruit?"

"Sure."

"Hank, if we get multi-bran cereal, only you and Charles will eat it."

Raven stood with her hands on her hips, holding a box of Frosted Shreddies.

"Multi-bran is healthy, Raven," Hank frowned.

"It might be healthy, but it tastes like dust," Alex called as he and Sean made their way down to where Hank and Raven stood. "We were just wondering whether to buy cola or lemonade."

"Cola. Definitely cola," Raven smiled.

"Wonder what the professor and Erik are getting up to," Alex said, putting the cola in his trolley. "Did you notice how quick Erik was to volunteer for this trip?"

"Maybe Charles' love for dead arse boring things has spread to Erik," Raven shrugged. "Anyways, what flavour jam do you think we should get?"

"Strawberry," Sean said.

"We've had strawberry for the last three weeks in a row," Hank groaned. "No more strawberry."

"Fuck you, I like strawberry," Sean snickered.

"Good for you. I don't."

"Blackberry it is..." Raven sighed, putting a jar in her trolley.

"They've decided on blackberry jam," Charles announced as Erik placed the two small boxes of strawberries in their trolley. "Just in case you cared."

"Good, I think I'm sick of strawberry flavoured."

"Sean likes it," Charles shrugged.

"Nobody else does. Blackberry is good," Erik said.

"Whatever you say, Erik."

"The new toaster needs a name."

Erik sighed. "Not everything needs a name, Charles."

"No, I second that. We need to name the toaster," Raven said.

"Franklin," Sean said. "Franklin the toaster."

"Franklin is good," Charles said.

"Yeah, Franklin works," Alex agreed.

"I just hope it doesn't burn my bloody toast," Erik muttered.

Two minutes later, the still slightly blackened pieces of bread made them all laugh, apart from a severly frustrated Erik.

Charles got up later on Sundays. It wasn't that he meant too, it was just a natural impulse.

"Good morning all," he yawned, walking down the stairs into the kitchen.

The teens giggled. "You just missed it, professor," Sean snickered.

"Missed what, Sean?"

"Erik burnt his toast again," Alex smirked. "Got really mad. He just left the room to go sit in the library."

"Was he alright?" Charles asked, concerned.

"Hard to say. He didn't really say anything," Raven said through a mouthful of Frosted Shreddies.

"I'll go make sure he's ok," Charles said, exiting the room without any coffee or toast.

He managed to get to the library within 5 minutes and entered it with caution.

"Erik?" he called. "Are you alright?"

Erik sat on the sofa, looking out the window. "I'm one of the most powerful mutants in the world," he whispered.

"Yes, you are," Charles said, sitting beside him.

"I could kill anyone I wanted to," he said.

"Yes, I suppose you could," Charles confirmed again.

"I could crush entire stadiums of people at one time with little effort!"

"Where are you going with this, Erik?"

"Charles," Erik said, voice still serious. He turned to face Charles. "I am possibly one of the most dangerous man on Earth."

"Uh huh."

"So why... Why?"

"Why what, Erik?"

"Why am I so easily frustrated by a $20 toaster!"

"I find it quite cute, honestly," Charles said as Erik scraped margarine onto the blackened bits of toast.

"I find it annoying," Erik muttered through clenched teeth.

"You know, you could let me make you toast."

"What?"

"For now. I'll teach you," Charles said, moving towards the toaster. He put in two slices of bread, and fiddled with the settings dial until it was on the lowest setting. He then pushed the lever down and moved away.

"Give it a minute," Charles smiled. Erik stared at him wondrously.

Sure enough, a minute later brought the two pieces of toast up, revealing a golden brown edge. The perfect toast.

Erik stared at the toast and looked back up at a smiling Charles Xavier. Without a word, he moved towards the shorter man, bent down, and kissed him.

When the teens came down two seconds later, they said nothing. Instead, the boys all passed Raven $10 each, shocked looks on their faces.

The next morning is still chaos.

Erik and Charles have avoided each other for 24 hours, and they're both the first ones in the kitchen.

"Oh, uh, Charles," Erik said. "Good, erm, morning."

"Good morning, Erik," Charles replied.

They both stared at the ground. Charles broke the silence.

"Would you like me to make some toast?"

It takes a moment for it to sink in, but soon both of them are laughing, and Charles puts the bread in the toaster.

"I, erm... I quite liked yesterday," Charles admitted, pouring them both coffee.

"I... I did, too," Erik smiled.

"So..."

"Get a room, please," Alex groaned, interrupting them with his appearance in the kitchen.

"Yeah, like, just date already," Sean said.

Erik rolled his eyes but Charles took his hand and squeezed it, before jumping at the noise of the toaster.

*a year later*

"Good morning, darling," Charles called as he hugged Erik from behind.

"Charles, I am one of the most dangerous men on Earth. You shouldn't call me 'darling'."

"Yes dear," Charles murmured, reaching for the coffee plunger.

"Most dangerous man on Earth is weakened by toasters and has a soft spot for men in tweed," Hank remarked, and the others snickered.

"Shut up, or I'll force you to eat nothing but strawberry jam for two weeks," Erik threatened, smiling when Hank widened his eyes.

"You wouldn't."

"I would," Erik smirked.

Charles smiled as he sat down at the table with his partner on his right and his children to the left. Mornings would always be chaos in the Xavier mansion, but he could live with the chaos. Hank still complained about unhealthy cereal, Raven still won every bet ever made, and sometimes, Erik burnt his toast. But Charles loved it. Charles loved it all.


End file.
